It’s been almost eight months since Taunton’s City Hall fire was determined to have been set by an arsonist. And on the anniversary of that fire it doesn’t appear an arrest is imminent.

“We’ve conducted an exhaustive investigation, but it hasn’t been enough to make an arrest,” the state’s Department of Fire Services spokesperson Jennifer Mieth said on Tuesday, adding, “One must have sufficient evidence to present to the DA’s office.”

Mieith stressed that “many long hours” have been spent “chasing down every possible lead,” during which, she said, witnesses and potential suspects have been “interviewed and re-interviewed.”

The investigation has been a joint effort, she said, of state police assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s Office (aka Fire Services), agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Taunton’s fire and police departments.

The majority of damage to historic City Hall, located across from Church Green at 15 Summer St., was not from flames, which were quickly contained to the fourth-floor attic by firefighters that Aug. 17 morning.

It was smoke and the water necessary to extinguish the blaze that caused severe internal damage to the 100-plus-year-old structure, which resulted in nearly all municipal departments re-locating to a temporary site in the former Maxham School on Oak Street.

Taunton Fire Chief Timothy Bradshaw said his fire investigator Russell Lainy has been meeting, since the fire, on an irregular basis with representatives of the fire marshal’s office and ATF.

And while Bradshaw said he looks forward to an arrest — “I’m satisfied whenever an arsonist is arrested” — he cautioned that what to an outsider might seem like a fairly simple case oftentimes is not.

“Arson is very difficult to prove,” he said.

Bradshaw said TFD “first responders” to the fire scene contributed to the state and federal investigation by determining which part of the attic area experienced the most intense heat; locating the fire’s point of origin; and what suppression tactics were undertaken that morning.

“All those help paint a picture,” he said.

Asked for further comment on what he describes as “an active investigation,” Bradshaw deferred to the Department of Fire Services, which he said is the “lead agency” in terms of the investigative process.

Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh said his department also continues to be “part of the process” of the arson investigation.

Asked to assess the TPD’s contribution to the investigation, Walsh said “I’m satisfied.”

Crowley last April e-mailed a letter of complaint to State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan and ATF acting chief Kenneth Melson, urging them “to step up your efforts to bring to justice the person or persons responsible for destroying our ... Taunton City Hall.”

Page 2 of 2 - And on the anniversary of the fire that has left the historic site an empty and internally demolished structure, Crowley is no less adamant that investigative officials should be doing more to capture the arsonist.

“I’m very, very frustrated with law enforcement on all levels who have put this on the back burner ... and I call upon them to put it on the front burner and make it a priority,” he said, as he stood on the sidewalk in front of the darkened and closed building.

“The courts have been so slow. It’s been delay after delay,” Crowley said, without elaborating.

Asked to speculate as to a motive for setting fire to City Hall, which officials say occurred that morning sometime before 8:30 a.m., Crowley said “I have no idea.”

But, he added, “It has to be a person with a deranged mind,” adding that the culprit is “a scourge to the city who should be put behind bars as soon as possible.”

Crowley said it’s “imperative” that City Hall be restored and reopened, not only because it serves as a gateway to downtown, but also to show the resolve of city officials and residents.

“We’re not going to turn and run,” he said, equating it to Ground Zero in lower Manhattan and plans by NYC officials for a new World Trade Center, in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Crowley said besides the inconvenience of relocating city departments and the millions of dollars it will end up costing the city, one can’t underplay the fact that city workers inside the building that morning could have been killed or injured.

“Lives were put in danger,” he said, referring to two female employees who were alone in different third-floor offices, just before one of them opened the door to the attic stairwell and came face to face with flames and smoke.

In response to the women’s screams, three people — building department workers Robert Pirozzi, Mary Jane Benker and Star Theater owner Michael O’Donnell — reportedly ran upstairs and unsuccessfully tried using fire extinguishers to beat back the flames.

Everyone in the building was then evacuated and no one was injured.

Crowley said he wants the arsonist brought to justice, not just to pay the price for setting the fire, but for a more practical reason.

“He’s a menace to society. If we restore the building how do we know that person won’t try to do it again?” he said.